Template text: Monitoring and disclosing follow-up searches

In the canton of (………), every missed shot and every follow-up search shall be reported, checked by the wildlife wardens and publicly disclosed on an annual basis. At present, nobody knows how many wild animals are shot and wounded during recreational hunting, how many are found after a follow-up search, and how many die an agonising death.

1. Motion

The cantonal government is instructed to submit a bill to the Grand Council amending the Hunting and Wildlife Protection Act (………), which specifies the obligation to carry out a follow-up search under Art. 8 para. 1 JSG as follows:

• Every shot that wounds a wild animal, or whose effect cannot be clearly assessed, must be reported immediately to the cantonal wildlife wardens.
• Every follow-up search must be documented with location, time, species, course of events, the follow-up search team deployed, and the outcome.
• Follow-up searches are to be carried out exclusively by recognised follow-up search teams or the wildlife wardens; the wildlife wardens carry out spot checks on the reports.
• Anyone who fails to report a missed shot or a follow-up search loses their hunting authorisation for at least one season.
• The canton publishes an annual statistic showing the number of reported missed shots, follow-up searches and their outcomes, broken down by species and type of hunt.

2. Brief rationale

Since the revision of the hunting act, Art. 8 para. 1 JSG has obliged everyone who wounds a wild animal while hunting, or who cannot clearly assess the effect of a shot, to arrange for a professional follow-up search within a reasonable period. The details are regulated by the cantons. However, an obligation without reporting, documentation and oversight remains largely ineffective.

Wounded animals often suffer for hours or even days. During driven hunts, the risk of poorly hit animals is considered particularly high, because shots are fired at fleeing game. These animals are largely absent from the cantons' hunting statistics. Without figures, it is impossible to assess either how serious this animal welfare problem is, or whether training, proof of shooting proficiency, or hunting methods need to be improved.

A reporting and documentation requirement creates transparency, strengthens the responsibility of shooters, and gives the wildlife wardens a basis for effective controls. The effort remains minimal if the reports are integrated into the canton's existing kill recording system.

What isn't reported doesn't exist in any statistic. Every wounded animal must be recorded, not concealed.

Further background: Template text: Transparent hunting statistics and Hunting and Animal Welfare: What the Practice Does to Wild Animals.